Bedtime
by oh-the-linsanity
Summary: Korra woke up to the feeling of someone petting her hair (occurs during book 3, episode 8)


Korra woke up to the feeling of someone petting her hair.

She still felt hazy; she remembered being given the anti-toxin but after that she conked out and went right back to sleep. Last she checked she was on a couch, but it seems she had been moved back to her room. There was a dim light coming from her bedside lamp and when she craned her head she saw Mako at the far side of her bed next to the lamp, holding a book in his left hand and stroking her hair with his right. He seemed so lost in the story it took a few moments for him to realize she was awake. When he did, his hand stopped immediately and he went to tug gently on her ear lobe before his fingers went back and rested still on the crown of her head. "How you feelin'?" he asked lightly, still reading his book.

Suddenly, Korra remembered how absolutely disgusting she felt. Smacking her lips together, she frowned. "I need to brush my teeth," she announced groggily.

"I'll say," he teased. Korra reached up to smack him lightly on the shoulder, but she missed, her vision still a little hazy. "They said it'd be a few more hours until all the toxins were neutralized. Still feel funny?"

Korra whined. She did still feel funny. Everything was heavy and unclear. "Why does this keep happening to me? Why don't people just try and punch me? Good old fashioned fighting. This whole drugging thing is totally cheating."

"Because they know if they try to punch you first, they'll lose," Mako told her, flipping the page in his book.

"Figures," Korra grumbled lazily. Her bed in Zaofu was certainly big enough for two people, but even still, Mako was sitting pretty close to her on the bed. Then again, he was the one on the edge and she was the one sprawled out. She scooted over a bit so she was resting lightly against his upright body; he repositioned his arm so it was wrapped around her head. A little playful, he laid his sinewy fingers all over her face—covered her eyes, stuck them up her nose, pulled at her mouth. Eventually her whines were enough to get him to stop and with a chuckle, he finally concentrated on reading. His hand went from playing with her hair to stroking her bare arm, creating his awkward half hug that didn't really feel that awkward.

"Hey," Korra asked, looking around. "How'd I even get here?"

"Bolin carried you."

She laughed—finally something that felt like her normal self. "Hah. Bolin would have _dropped _me."

"Not on purpose," Mako defended, a smile tugging on his lips. "No, it was the Chief. She took first watch for the night."

"You guys have been watching me _sleep?"_

"Well obviously, it's something we have to take into consideration now, don't we?"

Korra grumbled. While he had a point, she didn't enjoy this constant coddling. It was annoying. In a change of subject, she stared at the binding on his book. "Whatcha reading?"

"Umm," he drawled, turning another page. "The history of Zaofu, in terms of like, architectural ingenuity?" At her confused look, Mako simply shrugged. "Ah, I don't know. Any information on the city could help when we get to interviewing those guards in a few hours."

"Well, what have you learned so far?"

"…Nothing helpful."

Korra snickered. "Ah, don't worry," she told him. "We'll get it out of them. You be the brains, and I'll be the brawns."

"No Good Cop, Bad Cop?" Mako teased. "You always go for that joke."

"Well, Lin will be the Bad Cop and let's face it—you're not a very 'good' cop!" She laughed when Mako spread his fingers over her face and pushed her playfully towards the other side of the bed.

"I'm thinking the toxins are almost out of your system," he said just as Korra came crawling back to his side, even managing to sit up beside him. "I miss this," she announced suddenly.

"Hmm?" Mako hummed, finally looking up from his book. He looked incredibly tired. "Miss what?"

Korra bumped her shoulder with his. "_This. _I miss messing with you. I miss joking around." She flashed him a grin. "This is the first time you've been so normal around me since we broke up."

Sheepish, Mako looked away, finally setting his book on the bedside table. "I know. I'm sorry about that."

"It's okay," she shrugged.

Mako shook his head. "No, it's not okay. No matter what the definition of our relationship is, you're still important to me. I shouldn't have avoided you like I did." He looked down at his lap in shame.

"Mako, really, it's okay," Korra repeated again, much softer this time; her words felt heavy again and from the toxins or her heart, she didn't really know.

It was quiet for a moment, the silence calm and warm like the lamplight. "They almost took you today," Mako whispered.

"I know. But they didn't. Wanna know why?" She reached over and flicked him gently on the forehead. "Because no one messes with Team Avatar."

Snickering, Mako pushed her back down onto the bed, already reaching for his book again. "Feel funny again?" he asked.

"How'd you know?"

"You just called us Team _Abigar_."

Her eyelids felt heavy. "I did not," she pouted, and even those three words didn't quite sound like they should have. Maybe Mako was right.

"Sleep," he told her softly, still mildly amused as he turned his attention to his book, licking his index finger and turning another page. "We'll get the bad guys in the morning."

"Can you pet my hair again."

He pulled her close to him and rested her head on his chest, lifting the book so it rested above her head, strands of her brown hair caught in some of the pages. "Yes," he whispered, almost a laugh.

"Don't forget to do that scratchy thing on the scalp."

"I know what to do," he sighed, sounding tired. But when Korra craned her head to look at him, she saw him smiling.

Eyes and head unbelievably heavy, Korra started to doze off again, but not before she felt Mako lean down and press a kiss to the crown of her head.

.

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AN: just uploading some old makorra drabbles from tumblr in light of the finale to maybe ease the pain for those who never read them lmao. stay strong my fellow friends, and enjoy!


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